Believe What?
by X-MenObsessed
Summary: Set pre-timeskip before the Chunin exams start.
1. Walking on Water

"Tsuki!" A voice yelled from outside the window in Tsuki's bedroom. Tsuki was cleaning her room as per her older sister Sora's request. Well, demand is more like it. Sora didn't do a whole lot of asking. Tsuki didn't even think her room was that dirty in the first place. So it was a little hard to see the floor in some places because of the piles of clothing. Tsuki kept her mess in an organized fashion. Clean clothes ended up in one pile while her dirty clothes sat near her hamper from when she tried to toss her clothes in the hamper but usually missed. Stopping what she was doing upon hearing her name, Tsuki walked over to her window and looked outside. Her teammates Taku and Daichi were standing outside. Taku waved once he saw Tsuki and motioned for her to open the window.

Tsuki opened her window and leaned outside. "Hey guys! What are you doing here so early?"

"Early? We're supposed to meet Sora-sensei in five minutes!" Taku called up.

"Seriously!" Tsuki started to panic. She wasn't even done cleaning the room. Not only was Sora her older sister who took care of her but she was also her sensei and just because Tsuki was her sister it didn't mean she would go easy on her. Sora had a strict rule against being late.

"No, we're lying. Of course we're serious. Get a move on! I'm not going to be late just because of you," Daichi yelled.

"I just have to make sure Kanami is up and ready to go to the academy," Tsuki yelled down. She smiled at Taku as she closed her window with a quick glare towards Daichi. Tsuki grabbed her shoes from under one of her jackets as she ran out of her room and towards Kanami's. "Are you getting ready in there?" Tsuki asked through her younger sister's door.

"I can't find my underwear!" Kanami called back through the door.

"How did you lose your underwear? What are you wearing right now?" Tsuki sighed at her sister's door.

"This is yesterday's underwear!" Kanami whined.

"I don't have time for this," Tsuki mumbled to herself as she opened the door. Kanami was lying on her floor searching under her bed with no pants on when Tsuki walked in. "What would your underwear be doing under your bed?"

"I don't know but I've searched everywhere and I can't find a clean pair!" Kanami got up from under her bed and crossed her arms, pouting.

"Pouting isn't going to help. Please, Kanami, I'm supposed to be training with Sora and you know how she doesn't like me being late. Just this once could you please just wear the same underwear and then we'll do your laundry together later?" pleaded Tsuki.

Kanami sat still for a few minutes thinking before she got up from the floor and put on her pants. "Okay. But just this once!"

Tsuki ran over and picked Kanami up in a hug. "Thank you thank you thank you. Now let's go!" She carried Kanami downstairs and out the door. Tsuki put Kanami down who instantly started running in the direction of the Academy.

"Bye!" She called out without turning around.

"Where'd Daichi go?" Tsuki asked Taku when she looked around and he was nowhere to be found.

"He, uh, left without you." Taku seemed nervous, like Tsuki was going to be mad at him instead of Daichi.

"Whatever, let's go. Hopefully Sora's not even there yet!" Tsuki tried to put a positive spin on their predicament but they both knew that Sora was never ever late for anything, let alone training. They both ran off towards the training grounds with a sense of dread rising in their stomachs.

* * *

Panting, they both arrived at the training grounds. Tsuki collapsed onto the ground and tried to catch her breath. Looking up, she saw her sister Sora staring down at her. "Hello Sora-sensei," Tsuki got out between breaths. "Did we make it on time?"

"No," Sora replied.

"Push-ups?" Taku asked defeated.

"Push-ups," Sora confirmed. After her command, Tsuki and Taku started doing push-ups as their punishment. Tsuki glanced over at Daichi and saw him smirking at her. Sora noticed his smirk, "Daichi. Do you find this funny?"

"Uh n-no," Daichi sputtered out, surprised.

"Why don't you join them," With the way she said it, Daichi knew it wasn't a question. He got on the ground near Taku and started doing his own push-ups.

"Today you will be learning how to walk on water. This is an important technique for every ninja to learn. Follow me," Sora walked over towards the small river that ran along one edge of the grounds. The three ninja got off the ground and followed Sora to the river. "The first thing you must do is to concentrate some of your chakra to your feet. Then you simply step out onto the water. You must make sure to maintain your balance and keep your chakra steady or else you will fall into the water and get soaked."

"It that all?" Tsuki asked. It seemed like that would be pretty easy. It was just like walking up trees only on water. Easy.

"If you're so confident, why don't you give it a try first?" Sora suggested.

"All right I will," Tsuki replied confidently. Focusing her chakra into her feet, Tsuki marched over to the water's edge and looked down. She stared at her reflection for a few moments before taking her first step onto the water. With one foot on the land and one foot on the water, Tsuki started to lose her balance. She quickly brought her other foot onto the water to regain her balance. "Ha! I did it!" Tsuki exclaimed happily.

"Very good. Now, try walking on the water," Sora instructed looking unimpressed.

"Sure, no problem!" Tsuki tried walking forward but the second she placed her foot down on a different spot, she fell into the river. Resurfacing, Tsuki heard Daichi's laughter. Taku reached his hand down to help Tsuki out of the river. "Thanks Taku." Tsuki turned to Daichi, "Thanks for the help."

"Oh come on! That was just too funny!" Daichi was still laughing and it was annoying Tsuki.

"Why don't you try it if you're so great?" Tsuki mocked. She was still soaking wet and little pieces of dirt and grass were sticking to her legs. While Daichi concentrated his chakra, Tsuki started to pick off the sediment on her legs.

Daichi took his first few steps onto the water. Smirking over at Tsuki, he was almost knocked over by a strong gust of wind. "Ha! I didn't fall." He was even smugger than before. While sticking his tongue out at Tsuki, Daichi forgot to keep the chakra in his feet steady and fell into the river feet first. When his head popped up out of the river, he was met with laughter from Tsuki.

"Not so easy, is it?"

Daichi pulled himself out of the river and shook himself off near Tsuki, sending water drops flying at her.

"Hey! Not nice!" Tsuki fake pouted.

Daichi stuck his tongue out at her playfully as Sora sighed. She turned her gaze to Taku, "Aren't you going to give it a try?"

"Y-yes, Sora-sensei!" Taku focused his chakra and stepped out onto the water with his eyes closed, expecting to fall in at any time. When he realized he hadn't fallen in, he opened his eyes. "I did it?"

"Go Taku! Whoo!" Tsuki cheered from the her spot on the ground.

"Now try walking," Sora instructed.

Taku placed his foot onto another spot of water and stepped forward. When he didn't fall in, he slowly made his way to the other side of the river and back. He stepped back onto the ground with a look of amazement on his face.

"Taku you did it!" Tsuki ran over and hugged Taku while he remained in a state of shock.

"I guess I did," He managed to get out.

"Good job," Sora praised Taku which he met with some embarrassment at being complimented. "Now, Tsuki, Daichi, keep practicing. You too, Taku."

"Yes ma'am!" Tsuki saluted.

* * *

Tsuki collapsed on the ground soaking wet once more. "I'm exhausted." Even after all her hard work, Tsuki could only manage to take a few steps without falling in the water. Daichi could manage a few steps but his concentration was easily broken forcing him into the water as well. Taku had increased his skill quickly and could walk much faster, close to running.

"We made good progress today. Training is over. You may now go home," Sora dismissed the team. She started to head home but paused to look back at Tsuki. "Are you coming?"

Tsuki stayed on the ground, "I think I'm going to train some more. I'll see you at home later."

"Be back before it gets too dark," Sora instructed before turning and walking home once more.

"Ugh, I'm starved," Daichi whined while holding his stomach. "I'm heading home. Bye guys."

"Bye Daichi!" Tsuki waved from her place on the ground. "Hey Taku, do you have to go home too?"

"I don't have to. Do you want me to help you train?" Taku asked, guessing at what Tsuki wanted.

"Yes please!" Tsuki stood up and walked over to the water. "I will walk on you if it's the last thing I do!"

Taku laughed at Tsuki's antics, "Let's get started."

"Thanks again Taku."

"No problem, anything for a friend."

* * *

The next morning Tsuki walked into the kitchen to see Kanami by the toaster, chanting. Tsuki listened trying to catch what she was saying. She heard the word 'toast' chanted over and over. "What are you doing?"

"I'm chanting to make the toast come out faster," Kanami replied without taking her gaze off of the toaster.

"Ok…" Tsuki walked over to one of the cabinets and inspected the contents inside for something to eat. "Yes!" Tsuki exclaimed while grabbing a packet of ramen. She opened another cabinet and brought a pan out.

"You know, Sora said not to eat ramen for breakfast," Kanami informed.

"Well Sora's not here is she?" Tsuki stuck her tongue out playfully.

"I'm not where?" Sora asked from behind Tsuki.

"Ah!" Tsuki screamed and dropped the pan. She twirled around to see Sora looking at her sternly.

"Didn't I tell you not to eat ramen for breakfast?"

"Yes Sora-sensei." Tsuki put her head down in shame.

"I'll let you eat it just this once, but only because I have something important to tell you and the team. Meet me at the training grounds in half an hour."

"Got it!" Tsuki saluted her as Sora shook her head and left. Tsuki let out a sigh of relief and picked the pot up off the floor. "Sora's so much stricter since mom and dad died."

"What do you suppose the message is?" Kanami asked as her toast popped up in front of her face, surprising her.

"Maybe there's some kid in a well or a burning building," Tsuki teased playfully.

"So what's the message Sora-sensei?" Taku asked curiously.

"I have spoken with both of your parents," Sora said to Taku and Daichi, "and they have agreed to let me take you to another village for training."

"Training for what?" Daichi questioned.

"The Chunin exams. The exam will be held in Konohagakure in about a month or so. We will head there early for our training."

"What about Kanami?" Tsuki piped up after thinking about it for a while.

"Kanami will come with us so that I can personally train her and look after her instead of leaving her with someone here," Sora explained.

"When are we leaving?"

"I will give you one week to pack necessary items. Don't pack too lightly. It will be good strength and endurance training to have to carry heavy bags."

"Yes Sora-sensei." Daichi and Tsuki groaned.

"We will meet at the front gate next week before dawn. Now, time for training. Today we will be having target practice."

"Can I practice on Daichi?" Tsuki asked excitedly.

"No." Sora replied in a strict tone.

"Darn."


	2. HyperActive Knucklehead

"We're going to Konoha, we're going to Konoha," Tsuki sang and danced around as they all stood around waiting for Sora-sensei and Kanami. The sky was still dark and the streets were devoid of anyone else. Three heavy bags sat near the trio just waiting to be carried on a long journey.

"Would you stop that already!" yelled Daichi after another spirited verse of Tsuki's song. He had his arms crossed and looked like he'd rather be back in bed. Tsuki's singing was clearly not as amusing to him as it was to Taku.

"You're such a grumpy pants. You're obviously not a morning person," Tsuki teased.

"It's four in the morning! It hardly even qualifies as being the morning!" Daichi complained.

"So? I'm still as chipper as usual."

"Well, you're a freak of nature."

"Thank you," Tsuki smiled and continued to dance in a circle around Daichi. In response, Daichi walked over to the nearest tree and began whacking his head against it repeatedly.

"And he says I'm the crazy one," Tsuki commented to an amused Taku. "That kills brain cells you know! You can't afford to lose any more!"

"I hate you!" Daichi yelled in response.

"I love you too!" Tsuki called back.

"You really annoy him sometimes," Taku observed, smiling over at the still dancing Tsuki.

"It's always so much fun though!" Tsuki enthused.

"Daichi, what exactly are you doing?" Sora asked as she approached the group holding a giant bag of her own.

Daichi stopped ramming his head into the tree and stood up straight, "N-nothing Sora-sensei."

She gave him an odd look before turning to Taku and Tsuki who was still dancing around. "Today we set out for Konoha," Sora informed.

"Yay!" Tsuki screamed, a little too close to Diachi's ear.

"My ear!" Daichi exclaimed, placing a hand over his ear.

Sora cleared her throat to bring the attention back to her, "If we set out now, we should reach Konoha in two days."

"It's going to take that long?" Tsuki whined.

"Yes," Sora said sternly, stopping any further complaints from Tsuki.

"Where's Kanami?" asked Taku while looking around.

"HERE I AM!" Kanami yelled popping up next to Daichi.

"Ah!" Daichi flinched away from her. "What is wrong with your family!" He directed the question towards Tsuki.

"Excuse me?" Tsuki cracked her knuckles to try and be menacing.

"We need to head off, unless you two would like to continue your childish bickering?" Sora asked sarcastically. She gathered her bag and waited for the team to gather theirs.

Tsuki walked over to the bag her sister had insisted on packing for her. Expecting it to be much lighter than it was, Tsuki tried to lift it with one hand. "What did you put in here, rocks!" Tsuki complained when she found she couldn't lift the bag with one hand. She struggled with it for a while before she finally lifted it onto her back.

"It's probably not even that heavy you wimp," Daichi stuck his tongue out.

"If you keep doing that I'm going to cut your tongue off," Tsuki threatened.

"I'd like to see you try," he taunted.

"Oh really?" Tsuki pulled a kunai out and spun it around on her finger. "Just stick your tongue out again and we'll see."

Taku sighed from his place next to them, "Why can't you two ever just get along?"

"That's not fun," Tsuki replied casually, putting her kunai away after a glare from her sister.

* * *

"Need…water. So…tired," Tsuki gasped out as she dragged herself across the ground.

Daichi rolled his eyes in frustration, "We've been walking for five minutes and you haven't stopped complaining since!"

"So?" Tsuki replied from the ground.

"Why me!" Daichi asked looking up at the sky.

"Just lucky I guess," Tsuki replied getting up from the ground. She brushed off all the dirt she'd attracted from her time on the ground.

"If you're really that tired I could summon Shiro," Taku suggested helpfully, "If that's all right with Sora-sensei of course." Taku looked to Sora for a response.

"Fine. It will be good practice for you and it will get Tsuki to stop whining and hindering our progress," Sora replied without turning around.

Taku bit his thumb to draw blood and placed it to the ground. Within minutes the ground began to shake as something large approached. Soon enough the familiar large black dog came into view, bounding over the land.

"Shiro!" Tsuki exclaimed gleefully as the dog approached. He bent his head down to let Tsuki pet him. With a command from Taku, Shiro bent his whole body down so that Tsuki could climb up onto his back. Tsuki settled into her position and nuzzled Shiro's thick black fur. "Thank you Taku!" Tsuki called down from her perch.

"No problem."

"Can we get moving now?" Daichi asked impatiently.

"You're just jealous you don't get to ride a giant dog," Tsuki bragged.

"Yeah right, I can handle this journey without any help."

"Let's get moving again," Sora commanded.

"Come on boy, let's go!" Tsuki directed her canine ride.

* * *

"Wake up Tsuki!" A voice yelled from below, waking Tsuki from a deep slumber.

"What do you want?" She asked groggily while leaning over the edge to look down at the team.

"We're here," Daichi replied, annoyed.

"Really? That was a short trip," Tsuki replied confused.

"That's because you slept the entire way!" Daichi scorned.

"I slept for two days straight? Wow, new record." Tsuki pulled herself into a sitting position and looked around. The sun was just coming up over the horizon. "You didn't mind me sleeping the entire way, did you?" Tsuki cooed as she leaned against Shiro's head.

"Please come down from there," Sora called.

"Thanks for the ride." Tsuki carefully slid down Shiro to the ground. Shiro rubbed his head against her shoulder then looked to Taku. Taku gave him the signal that he could return home and Shiro bounded off the way they came. "Is he going back home?"

"Yeah, I figured we wouldn't need him here anymore." Taku responded.

"Not unless Tsuki needs him to fight for her as well as have him carry her," Daichi said with some disdain.

"What did you say!" Tsuki spat out.

"You heard me," Daichi replied curtly.

Tsuki crouched into a fighting position as Daichi followed suit. Sora stepped between the two before anything could happen. "Would you two stop arguing?"

"Sorry."

"Now, let's try to keep a sense of dignity while we're visiting a foreign village," She instructed as she led the way into the village.

"So where are we headed sensei?" Daichi asked, keeping his distance from Tsuki.

"We're going to the place we'll be staying so you can get some sleep. Of course, I don't know how much sleep you'll need, Tsuki," Sora replied giving Tsuki a slight glare.

Tsuki flinched away from her stare and looked away. She observed the village as they made their way through the streets. It was much bigger than their village and Tsuki felt it would be very easy to get lost here. They arrived where they would be staying and Sora directed them into two different rooms, "Taku and Daichi will sleep in this room, Tsuki and Kanami will stay in that room and I will have my own room. Any questions?" Sora asked.

Everyone shook their heads no in reply.

"Good," Sora left them to go to her own room. Kanami stifled a yawn, trying to hide the fact that she was still tired from Tsuki.

"Let's get you back to sleep," Tsuki said picking Kanami up and leading her to their room. She laid Kanami down on one of the beds where she almost instantly fell asleep.

Tsuki looked around the room trying to find something to do. When she could find nothing, she lay down on the other bed and stared up at the ceiling in boredom. 'I hope there's something fun to do in this village,' Tsuki thought to herself.

* * *

"Tsuki," Taku whispered as he shook Tsuki lightly. Tsuki slowly opened her eyes to see Taku looking down at her.

"What is it?" Tsuki stifled a yawn. She sat up in her bed and looked around.

"It's noon. I came to check on you to see if you were awake," Taku explained.

"What! I fell asleep!"

"Clearly," Taku pointed out.

"Where is everybody?" Tsuki asked after looking over to Kanami's bed only to find it empty.

"Sora went out with Kanami to see the village about an hour ago. Daichi left just a few minutes ago," Taku clarified.

Tsuki nodded and got out of bed. She began to search around in her bag. "What are you planning to do today?" She asked while still rummaging through her bag. She couldn't find anything with Sora's organization system. She wished she'd packed the bag herself.

"Train," Taku answered sheepishly.

"I'm going to do some exploring!" Tsuki exclaimed. "A-ha! Here it is!" She drew her hand out from her bag clutching her small money purse. Tsuki noticed Taku staring at her questioningly, "Just in case."

"Have fun. Don't get in too much trouble," Taku waved as he left the room.

"No promises."

* * *

Tsuki wandered around the streets of Konoha aimlessly, occasionally pausing to look in at some store. She tried to mentally remember where each of the shops was located but she knew she'd forget everything and wind up getting lost if she ever tried to get back to a certain store. A grumble from her stomach stopped Tsuki. She glanced down at her stomach. 'Huh, I guess I'm hungry,' she thought to herself. Tsuki looked around to find someone to ask for directions to the nearest food stand. She spotted a boy with brown hair in a spikey ponytail a few steps away from her talking to a blonde girl standing near a flower shop.

"Excuse me; do you know where I can find somewhere to eat? Preferably a ramen stand?" Tsuki asked, interrupting their conversation.

"There's one just down the street and to the left. It's called Ichiraku Ramen," the blonde replied pointing down the street.

"Thank you very much," Tsuki replied.

"Are you new here?" The boy asked, stopping Tsuki as she was leaving.

She turned back to the group, "Sort of. I'm here for the chunin exams next month. I'm Tsuki Sasaki."

"I'm Ino Yamanaka and this is Shikamaru Nara," The girl introduced herself with a smile. The boy looked slightly annoyed at having the girl introduce him since he was perfectly capable of doing it himself.

"It's nice to meet you. Thank you for the directions," Tsuki replied.

"We hope to see you around soon," Ino waved a goodbye and turned back to converse with Shikamaru.

Tsuki headed off in the direction Ino had given. 'Okay, head straight and turn left,' she thought to herself as she walked. Once she thought she had gone far enough, she turned to the left to see a ramen stand a few feet away. Excited, Tsuki ran towards the stand and sat down at one of the stools.

"What can I get you?" A young girl asked once Tsuki was settled into her seat.

"I'd like one bowl of ramen with chicken, please," Tsuki requested happily. As she waited, Tsuki decided to observe her surroundings. There were two other patrons at the stand, a middle-aged man to her left and a boy about her age with blonde spikey hair. He had three empty bowls sitting near him as he hungrily ate what appeared to be his fourth bowl of ramen. 'How can he eat so much ramen!' Tsuki thought to herself, surprised.

"Here you go, miss," The girl smiled and placed a bowl of ramen in front of Tsuki.

"Thank you!" Tsuki began to eat but kept throwing glances over at the boy conspicuously. Her eyes bulged when she noticed he was on his fifth bowl of ramen. 'He must have a bottomless pit for a stomach.' Once Tsuki had finished and paid for her meal, she decided she should get some training in so she could tell Sora she hadn't wasted her day. She was about to leave when she realized she had no idea where the village's training grounds were and she didn't feel like wasting time searching when she could just ask one of the villagers. She glanced over at the boy to see him with eight empty bowls surrounding him. "Excuse me?" Tsuki politely approached the boy.

He questioningly turned to Tsuki and looked at her and Tsuki noticed he had really pretty blue eyes.

"I was wondering if you could tell me where the training grounds are in this village. I don't really know my way around yet," She admitted.

His face broke out into a big goofy grin, "Sure I know where they are! I'll even take you there!" He paid for his ramen and came over to stand next to Tsuki. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I'm going to be the next Hokage, believe it!" Naruto stated proudly.

"Believe what?" Tsuki laughed at his phrasing.

"It's kind of my catchphrase," Naruto explained.

"I'm Tsuki Sasaki. Nice to meet you, Naruto," Tsuki greeted.

"Let's get going!" Naruto yelled, grabbing Tsuki's arm and pulling her along in the direction of the training grounds Tsuki assumed. For all she knew he could be dragging her off into the woods to kill her. Tsuki smiled to herself at the thought. From what she could tell, Naruto was way too much of a hyper-active knucklehead to be a mass murderer. Or if he was, he was the nicest mass murderer Tsuki figured she'd ever meet.


End file.
